Teon - contemporary paintress

Biography

TEON (Teodora Nikolova) is a self-taught Bulgarian visual artist working across painting, sculpture, and spatial installation. Her practice examines the threshold between memory, the body, and matter — most recently through bronze sculptures embedding authentic pointe shoes from the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria. In 2026, her work was presented at the 61st Venice Biennale, the Carrousel du Louvre, and MAXXI Rome, where she received a Menzione di Merito. She lives and works in Sofia, Bulgaria.

TEON (Teodora Nikolova) is a Bulgarian visual artist working across painting, sculpture, and spatial installation. Her practice is rooted in the relationship between memory, the body, and matter — building layered, tactile surfaces from acrylic, structural paste, resin, and gold leaf, in which time accumulates and refuses to disappear. Her recent work includes a series of bronze sculptures incorporating authentic pointe shoes once worn by dancers of the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, exploring what a body leaves behind and what persists after movement stops.

Nikolova is self-taught. She built a career in business before fully dedicating herself to art in 2024. Within a short period, she has developed a significant international presence, with her work presented at the 61st International Art Exhibition — La Biennale di Venezia (2026), the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris (2026), and MAXXI — National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome, where she received a Menzione di Merito from Progetto d'Autore 2026. Her exhibition record includes presentations across Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Monaco, and Bulgaria.

Her work has been published in the Giunti Atlas of Contemporary Art and featured in Artio Magazine, Artdependence Magazine, and PO4OR (France). A solo exhibition is planned for 2027 at B² Atelier, Chelsea, London.